Probably an unpopular opinion, but...

Dec 06, 2007 01:26

...my take on the whole LJ/Six Apart/SUP panic?

Alaska is melting. Oh, and Georgia is baking.

IMO, it's all about perspective. To quote the esteemed and precociously wise Linus Van Pelt, "Five hundred years from now, who'll know the difference?"

Now I'm going to bed. i_am_a_hannah is coming home tomorrow and I must get things ready before work. Must sleep

lj, perspective, climate change

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Comments 23

moonlight69 December 6 2007, 07:21:42 UTC
*deletes somewhat ranty comment*

I like Peanuts.

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 07:23:38 UTC
Like I said, it's an unpopular opinion. ;)

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moonlight69 December 6 2007, 07:26:17 UTC
It's not so much that as it just...doesn't really make sense to me. Are you saying that because one is a concern the other shouldn't be?

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 07:36:06 UTC
I absolutely think it's a concern, I'm just trying to put things into perspective. It's a concern, and a valid one, but it's not a disaster, which from some of the posts I've been reading, a lot of LJ-land thinks it is. LJ isn't the only fish in the sea.

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neonnurse December 6 2007, 07:33:03 UTC
I'm right there with you. And to expand a little, it's not so much perspective as proportion. I'm not saying people shouldn't get upset by threats to their enjoyable pastimes. But just imagine if the public in general put in a tenth as much energy towards fixing real actual genuine problems that threaten their lives and the lives of those they love, as they do on Harry Potter kerfluffles and pro football games and such....

What a world THAT would be, as a kinda smart guy has mused before. :)

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 07:52:24 UTC
But just imagine if the public in general put in a tenth as much energy towards fixing real actual genuine problems that threaten their lives and the lives of those they love, as they do on Harry Potter kerfluffles and pro football games and such

*nods vigorously* I love the First Amendment, it's one of the only uniquely American ideals left for which I can still feel pride. I hate censorship and age statements and silly ticky things that say HERE BE PORN, BEWARE (I had to put the year I was born on my profile to join a comm, wtf?),and if someone is given a hard time for their art, that sucks and I'd absolutely offer to help them in any way I can. But LJ being bought out by some company in Russia isn't a disaster. It's not the extinction of a species. Or a language ( ... )

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aingeal8c December 6 2007, 07:49:44 UTC
Didn't Russia sell Alaska to the US? Not recently but originally?

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 07:54:29 UTC
Yeah, it was called Seward's Folly at the time. And then all the white guys came and kicked around a few aboriginals, just like they did everyplace else they went.

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aingeal8c December 6 2007, 07:56:50 UTC
Ah I thought so. I wonder if Russia regret the sale...

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 08:04:27 UTC
The Inuit probably regret everyone. And it's their homeland that's melting.

Speaking of which, if you want to read something completely amazing, pick up a copy of Ada Blackjack. It's about an Inuit woman from Alaska who was the sole survivor of a party of explorers stranded on a Russian-owned island. There's adventure, survival, and the US, Canada, Britain and Russia all bickering amongst themselves while these poor people waited for rescue. I couldn't put it down.

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luzula December 6 2007, 09:11:34 UTC
I do see what you mean. LJ is a pretty recent thing for me, and I'm not letting it take all my time. I do think fighting for something you believe in is essential and also very rewarding. (Not to say censorship stuff isn't important, but you have to choose what you're going to fight for.) I work a lot with forestry issues in Sweden--we have less than five percent forest left that's relatively unaffected by logging, and obviously that leads to serious extinction problems. The best part is when you're actually out in the forest doing inventories and stuff, but there's also a lot of administrative stuff that needs doing (accounting, *sigh*).

Oh, and would you be willing to beta something short and Caroline-related for me? It's not quite finished yet, though...

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 16:53:49 UTC
I work a lot with forestry issues in Sweden--we have less than five percent forest left that's relatively unaffected by logging, and obviously that leads to serious extinction problems.

Sounds like really interesting work, despite the number-crunching part.

I think that the way LJ has morphed into an ersatz babysitter is ridiculous and annoying, and people have a right to be concerned and thinking about other options. I won't be surprised, though, if it turns out to be the latest tempest in the LJ teapot.

*edits to add stuff*

Oh, and yes, I'd love to beta some Caroline. *g*

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ceilidh December 6 2007, 11:44:34 UTC
It's very likely that you see more outrage on LJ about LJ things because it's the site of the controversy. I'm a huge arts education advocate, that's MY big issue, but you won't see as much about that on my LJ than I do in real life, because it will actually do more good ranting about it in real life than on my LJ. I'm certainly not going to rant about LJ in real life as I'd prefer my co-workers, etc, not to even know I have an LJ.

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primroseburrows December 6 2007, 16:58:24 UTC
I'm certainly not going to rant about LJ in real life as I'd prefer my co-workers, etc, not to even know I have an LJ.

Hehee. You have a point. Ranting is good, I rant all the time here.

Most people know I have a LJ, but most of my co-workers have never heard of it so they don't go searching, and even if they did, they'd chalk it up to just another eccentricity because they think I'm amusingly weird. *g*

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